1. I had a patient who wanted a brow lift because she thought she looked grumpy all the time.

I sent her for a brow wax instead. It took 15 minutes, she looked great, and she saved herself $5,000. I’ve
also seen patients
get results similar to
eyelid lifts with over-the-
counter firming serums and eyelid-lift creams. The results
are temporary, but they do work
to reduce lines and puffiness.

2. It drives me crazy when parents call from the emergency room because their kid got a scratch on his face.

It’s not going to look any different if I sew it up instead of the ER doctor; it’s probably just going
to cost you a lot more money.
Unless the injury is severe, you
don’t need a plastic surgeon for
every cut and scrape.

4. We have a secret weapon we can use when things go wrong: leeches.

By restoring blood flow
and secreting a chemical that
prevents blood clots, leeches can help salvage a breast lift gone bad
or a reattached finger that’s about
to die. It sounds gross, but reconstructive plastic surgeons use them
routinely.

6. We do laugh at you sometimes.

I had a patient who e-mailed me to ask if it was OK for her to cook for her family again. She wanted
to make sure her breast implants wouldn’t melt. I also had a guy come in with his wife and his girlfriend
literally one week apart for the same breast implant operation.

13. When you bring in your car to get fixed, you ask all sorts of questions.

But a surprising number of people prepared to put their bodies under the knife don’t ask anything. Not one question.

Sources: Plastic surgeons William DeLuca, MD, in Albany, New York; Usha Rajagopal, MD, in San Francisco; Michael Salzhauer, MD, in Miami; Peter Neligan, MD, at the University of Washington Medical Center; Anthony Youn, MD, author of the memoir In Stitches; a plastic surgeon in Boston; and Andrew P. Ordon, MD, cohost of the TV show The Doctors